Complete Menagerie (knife Rest) By Edouard Marcel Sandoz For Christofle Gallia, France

This exceptional complete set of twelve silver-plated knife rests represents one of the finest achievements of French Art Deco design. Created around 1920 by Swiss sculptor Édouard Marcel Sandoz (1881-1971) for Christofle's prestigious Gallia line, this collection captures the essence of the era's fascination with stylized animal forms and streamlined elegance.

Each piece in this charming animal parade (measuring approximately 2 x 11 x 2 centimeters) represents a different creature, rendered in Sandoz's distinctive style. The sculptor's extraordinary talent for reducing animal forms to their essence is evident: an elongated cat with an elegantly curved tail, a speedy greyhound frozen in mid-motion, birds with geometric plumage and various domestic and wild animals, each reduced to smooth, polished silhouettes that nonetheless capture the inimitable spirit of their subject.

Sandoz trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris with the renowned animal sculptor Georges Gardet, and exhibited at the Salon as early as 1904. He developed an instantly recognizable approach to animal sculpture, combining naturalistic observation with the geometric simplification prized by Art Deco designers. His work for Christofle Gallia transposed this refined aesthetic to the art of the table, transforming utilitarian objects into miniature sculptures worthy of collection.